In this current economic climate, with publishing cut-backs (less money per contract, fewer contracts offered, many mid-list authors being dropped, etc), how are agents weathering the situation? Agents make money when they sell their authors, which would mean you have less monies coming in to pay YOUR bills. How are agents dealing with this? I haven’t seen any evidence on the numerous agent blogs I read that agents are struggling, or wanting more clients, in fact, many agents are closed to unsolicited queries. So are you pushing your current clients to write beyond their current genres or go bigger within their genre?
I really liked this question (these questions) because there’s no doubt it’s a subject that’s been on people's minds a great deal. In truth, not all agents are weathering the situation well. I suspect that if things continue as they have been we’ll see agency closings and/or more agents leaving the business. You’re right, agents are paid on commission, and for those agents who have yet to build a solid list of authors who are earning good royalties, things are looking bleak.
Let me take a step back and explain an agent’s financial situation a bit. The very best way for an agent to make money is not necessarily by selling a lot of books. Sure, advances are great, but as any published author will tell you, the real money is in royalties and subsidiary rights sales. The authors an agent really wants on her list are those who have written books that continue to sell and sell and sell and that earn royalties year after year, those authors who are almost guaranteed sales on future books and continue to make money on past books. An advance comes once, real success is when royalties come for years. The agents who, in this economy, are struggling the most are those who have relied primarily on advances to pay the bills and who don’t have many authors who are making royalty money. That means that to pay the bills they continually need to sell new authors and new books, and as we know, that’s not easy these days.
I know that in the past year I’ve made a slight shift in the books I’ve sold. That doesn’t mean it’s a permanent shift, but in times of trouble I’ve personally found nonfiction a little easier to sell. While I haven’t done a direct comparison, I would suspect that if you looked at my list you would see that I sold more nonfiction in 2009 than I did in 2008. Nonfiction tends to be less subjective and a little less of a risk for publishers since they can clearly compare it to other successful books. That doesn’t mean I’m not selling fiction, because in fact the proven authors on my list are continuing to sell and sell well, but it means that in looking at new clients I tend to look at nonfiction more carefully because it’s what I’ve had the most recent success with.
The one thing I need to address here is the feeling that if agents are struggling, shouldn’t they be open to queries and/or taking on new clients? Not necessarily. In fact, to some extent, it’s better to focus on the clients you do have and help them find a direction that will sell than to take on new people with no track record. What I’m suggesting my clients do is stay the course. That means keep writing great books and write what they love. There is no genre right now that’s a guaranteed sale, so if a client is ready for that next step I’m encouraging her to go there, but I’m also cautioning that she continue with what she’s having success with if that’s possible.
All that being said, I’m going into 2010 with great optimism. I’m feeling really good about the clients BookEnds has and the success we’ve had and are continuing to have. And as for what authors should do in a climate like this? Write the best dang book you can write. My advice doesn’t change in good or bad “weather.”
Jessica
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By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 8/5/2009
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: agent preferences, agents' sales, Add a tag
I'm sure you've all taken on clients that you love the writing and the book, but have a hard time getting editors to feel the same way. Does this make you lose faith in your client (their work) in any way, or do you just become more determined to see that book (or another of theirs) hit the shelves?
I think from every agent you ask the answer to this question is going to be that it depends. One of the reasons agents are so picky and often use words like “love” and “passion” when taking on new work or even rejecting a project is that we know getting published and staying published is a long haul and can be difficult for both author and agent. If I love a voice and a client’s writing it’s a lot easier for me to keep the faith for however long it takes. If I take on a project because I think it will be an easy sale (like that exists) or because it’s okay, I’m not going to have the passion it takes to stick it out for what could be months or sometimes years.
The very real and honest answer to this question is that both things happen. I do lose the faith, but not so much in the client as I do myself. There are definitely times when I wonder, in situations like this, if maybe I am doing something wrong and not guiding the client in the right directions. And then I just get mad and decide that everyone else is an idiot and with renewed vigor I start over again.
It’s not easy for a writer to face rejection over and over again and it’s not easy for an agent either. When I offer representation I am making a promise of sorts. Sure, I never directly tell an author that I will have no problem selling her work, but it’s implied that I will sell her work and it’s important to me to live up to those expectations.
I think that writers have so much to worry about the last thing you need to add to the list is whether or not an agent will lose faith in you. If it happens you’ll sense it and it will be terrible and you’ll know it’s time to move on. Hopefully though you’ve found or will find an agent who believes that passion plays a key role in every author she takes on and has the fortitude to keep that passion going no matter what it takes.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 11/17/2008
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: persistence, agents' sales, Add a tag
Once I have an agent, how likely am I to be published? Do you have any books that you really like, but just can't sell?
This is a great question and one that I’m surprised I haven’t addressed yet. In fact, just the other day I was mentally going through the list of some of my clients, processing those I sold, those I never sold, and those I sold but it wasn’t the first book I went out with. Frankly, I really thought that the numbers of those I sold but not the first book we went out with was going to be a lot higher than it was.
Here is an entirely unscientific look at my own facts and figures. And keep in mind these are just a random selection of my clients over the years and not necessarily everyone. For example, I only looked at fiction and didn’t include those clients who came to me with a book deal in hand.
- Sold first book: 9 clients (and in all cases have sold multiple books, sometimes to multiple publishers)
- Sold later works: 5 clients
- Haven’t yet sold: 5 clients that I could think of off the top of my head, but 3 of them disappeared after the first book didn’t sell and 2 of them I have all the confidence in the world we’ll be selling very soon.
One of the things I did notice was how much persistence played into it. Those clients who only gave me one chance (they never sent me a second book) had lower odds of getting published. But those who were willing to stick with me, as I was willing to stick with them, were likely to get a book deal. Remember, I take on a client for her voice, not a book. If I love your writing I will do everything in my power to find a place to get it published. In fact, I took on a new client earlier this year (February, I think) and while we weren’t able to sell that book, I just made a three-book deal for her for something new, different, and, more important, something she’s excited about writing.
Oh, but to answer your last question, yes, absolutely. I have definitely had books that I can’t stop thinking about. In fact, one of them is being reworked right now and we’re going to sell the dang thing if it kills me, because I love that book.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 10/22/2008
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: agen-editor relationship, editors, agents' sales, Add a tag
This question is actually part of yesterday’s question, but I thought I would break them up for space reasons and because it gives me two days of posts instead of one.
It seems like, at the end of the day, the book has to sell itself, but if that's the case why do some agents have strong sales track records while others do not? Are agents with few sales just picking the wrong books to rep?
I agree that a book should, in many ways, sell itself. Let’s look at it this way: Do you want an agent who can “convince” editors to buy your book or an editor who feels passionate enough about your book to fight for it every step of the way? Because editors, unlike agents, don’t work on commission and don’t get paid based on the success of the books they buy. Therefore passion is what you want from an editor.
Does that mean that agents with strong sales records get that way because they have the remarkable ability to strong-arm editors into buying a book? No, not at all, and hopefully no one is strong-arming anyone into buying books. There are a number of reasons agents can have strong sales records. The first is history. If I’ve been in the business for 25 years and have developed the reputation for having solid, well-written submissions, then editors are going to look at me with a different eye than they would someone with two years in the business and submissions that so far have only been okay. Because let’s face it, when buying anything, who the salesman is can make a difference. An editor looking at my submissions will hopefully go into them with enthusiasm knowing she usually likes the books I send.
Another reason why an agent might have a stronger sales record is because of that agent’s eye. I don’t think you can easily teach someone how to be an agent. Sure, you can explain a contract and negotiation techniques, but you can’t explain what makes a good book or a successful book easily. I truly think that some agents, like some editors, have an eye for books that become successful. I guess you could compare it to an author’s voice. Some have it and some don’t. So an agent’s eye and an agent’s ability to work with an author to make a book ready for publication can also help build an agent’s track record. So yes, in this case it could be true that there are agents out there who are just not picking the right projects. Of course it could also be true that they aren’t necessarily getting the right submissions to pick from.
And my last thought on track record is perception. Publishers Marketplace is a fascinating tool, but can sometimes give authors a warped perception on sales records and an agent’s success primarily because not all agents report on Pub Marketplace and not all agents report all deals.
In the end a really great, salable, marketable book is going to find a home. No matter who the agent is.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 10/21/2008
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: agen-editor relationship, editors, submissions, agents' sales, Add a tag
How much responsibility does an agent bear for a book not selling? Is a good agent - like a good query letter - simply responsible for getting the manuscript read? Are there different levels of editorial contacts that agents might have - junior vs senior - with more or less power? I guess what I'm trying to understand is whether who your agent is - provided they truly have contacts - really makes a difference in whether or not you get published.
These are a lot of great questions with a lot of answers. I’m going to try my best to answer all of these as clearly as possible because I think this is a really interesting topic. We talk all of the time about big agencies versus boutique agencies and “big name” agents versus those who are lesser known. And of course I’m always encouraging readers to consider those agents who have recently opened up shop and are hungry for clients. But how much responsibility does an agent bear for the sale of the book, or a book that doesn’t sell?
The truth is that the answer to that question is of course “it depends,” and I’d love to hear, anonymously of course, from some agented authors who’ve had different experiences with this. A good agent’s job is to get your work read by not just any editor, but hopefully the right editor. Is the agent solely responsible if the book doesn’t sell? Well, that’s something only you can determine. Did the agent seem aggressive in getting your book out? Do you feel that the agent had an effective plan, and if you asked your agent about the choices she was making could she give you honest feedback? For example, when making a submission plan there are certain editors I would prefer not to submit to and don’t submit to unless I absolutely have to. Why? Ultimately I don’t feel they are the best advocates for their authors. I also know different editors within different houses. I know some things about their personal interests as well as their reading preferences and I also know something about the style of writing and voice they often gravitate toward. I know the editors who like the same style of writing that I do and I know those that don’t. So when putting together a submission plan I’m not just considering which houses I think would be the best fit, but which editors.
Do the titles "junior" or "senior" come into play when making those decisions? Yes and no. They do in the sense that the longer an editor has been with a house and/or the more experience she has often the more pull or power she has within a house, but not always. I’ve known Senior Editors with little to no power and Assistant Editors with impressive lists and pull within a house. Does experience equal editorial advice? Not at all. When evaluating which editors to choose I think of my client and what I think she needs from an editor, I think of the book and what level I think it has potential to be within a house. Not all books should be judged the same way. Some are bigger books and should go to editors who can make them such, while others aren’t, even though the author eventually might be.
I think that at the end of the day your agent and an editor can be the very best of friends and have very similar interests, but your book has to be able to sell itself, and frankly, that’s what you want. Because even if your agent is powerful enough to convince an editor to buy it, no one is powerful enough to trick enough readers into buying the published book to make it a success. For example, maybe I know that Editor B is desperate for the exact type of women’s fiction I just read. Maybe Women’s Fiction X isn’t that great, but I know I can get her to buy it. Do I offer representation just to sell a book? Well I don’t. Because I don’t think it’s the best deal for the author. Just because I can sell a book doesn’t mean I can build a career, and building careers is my ultimate goal. Selling a book is a thrilling event for an author and for an agent, but you want it to be the start of your career, not one thrilling moment. In that case you don’t want an agent who can “convince” editors to buy a book. You want an agent who has the contacts you need to find the right editor to launch your career with.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 2/7/2008
Blog: BookEnds, LLC - A Literary Agency (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: agent research, agents' sales, agent research, agents' sales, Add a tag
I recently did a post on Agent Research Sites, and I thought the related question below was a great one. I’ve done a couple of posts on how to identify a bad agent and the scam agents everyone should avoid, but I’m not sure there’s been a lot on how to find a list of good agents. Probably because there is only sort of a list.
How do you determine which are the better/best agents out there? I've done research on Publishers Marketplace, read countless webpages - both agencies own and places like Absolute Write - but still, at best, it seems agents are listing maybe 2-3 deals so far this year, with maybe 1 in a specific genre. I know not all agents list every deal, but how do you know who will give you the best chance to sell your book? Is there somewhere else I should look? My book is upper YA - is there a list somewhere (other than Agent Query) of the most successful agents by genre? What is the typical number of deals an agent does annually? What percentage of books are likely to find a legit agent, but still not sell? I know there are a lot of questions in this, but any/all advice would be appreciated!
It sounds like you are doing the right things. I would always recommend Publishers Marketplace and of course Preditors and Editors, but beyond that things can get a little sketchy. You can check out AAR, too, although to be a member you have to have been agenting for 18 months, which means that if you are only reviewing AAR, you might be missing out on some very talented, experienced fresh blood. Eighteen months is a long time, and I know that by the time we became AAR members we were already well established and looking for authors with less of a need to fill spots.
However, despite all of that advice, I don’t think that’s what you are looking for. It seems you’ve already done your research and know who is reputable. Now you just want to know who is actually good and who will be good for you. Well, unfortunately that’s going to require conversations with other writers, visits to discussion boards, writers' loops and chats at writers' group meetings. And of course it’s going to take some gut instincts. If an agent is reputable, selling books in your genre (and Publishers Marketplace, of course, only has those deals that people are reporting; most agents have, or should have, a great number of deals outside of just those on Pub Marketplace), and experienced in contract negotiation and career building, you’re probably in good shape.
Unfortunately there’s no place that I know of, other than maybe an agent’s web site, that will list all of the deals an agent does annually, or who is the most successful. Especially since that would be somewhat subjective. Is an agent who has 300 clients and some bestsellers but no time to really give to any of them more successful than the agent who has only one client who just happens to be Dan Brown? Or is the agent more successful who has 25 published clients but has never really moved any of them forward in their careers, versus the agent who has three published clients but has gradually and successfully built all of their careers over time? I think what makes an agent successful is one who is able to give each of her clients what they want and need and help each of them attain their individual goals.
It sounds like you’ve done all the research you can. Now it’s up to you to send the work out there and make the final decision when the call comes. Is the agent who offers the right agent for you? And, of course, maybe my readers can share their own experiences and advice on how they went about choosing which agents to query.
Jessica
By: Franki,
on 4/24/2007
Blog: A Year of Reading (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: favorite authors, school books, Louise Borden, Add a tag
What a lucky day we had today--Louise Borden came in to our class and read her new book to us--THE JOHN HANCOCK CLUB. This is a great story of Sean, a third grader, who is not so excited to learn cursive handwriting. But with the help of his teacher, Mrs. Tovani, he learns to have excellent penmanship and to join the classroom's John Hancock Club. Louise Borden weaves in facts about John Hancock as the students learn about him and his signature on the Declaration of Independence.
Louise Borden has once again captured life in a great classroom. If you don't know her other school books, you'll want to check them out.
THE DAY EDDIE MET THE AUTHOR is a story of a boy who gets to meet an author during an author visit at school.
GOOD LUCK, MRS. K! is the story of a classroom of children and their support of their amazing teacher who is diagnosed with cancer.
THE A+ CUSTODIAN is a great tribute to the important people who do the job of taking care of the school and the kids. (A favorite of mine because the teacher's name is Mrs. Sibberson :-)
THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL captures the feeling of kids and teachers on that last day of school--the excitement of summer but the sadness of a good year finished. A great one for this time of year!
Thanks for the great info, Jessica! I've heard of a few agents going belly up, and it seems as if they had been in the biz for less than 3-5 years. Good to know.
Great post. It's what any business strives for: recurring revenue.
It's nice to hear the story from an agent's point of view. Thanks for this.
A terrific post and one I've been wondering about lately, too. Trickle down theory, I guess.
In terms of the backlist, etc., I've also been thinking a lot about that, too. I think any writer, nonfiction, novelist, or freelance writer (I'm all three) can sometimes feel like writing is like being on a gerbil wheel. It would be very nice if some of my previous books and future books created income in the upcoming years, rather than living from contract to contract or fee to fee.
I understand where it can be a tough job for agents to take on new clients. Hey, if I was an agent I would take a step back and focus more on what I already have in the bank. But I also think this is a time for agents to be more connected with the unpublished authors. Having continuing blogs and holding contest to critique the first pages is a great way for agents to take a risk without actually taking the risk.
The times are about social networking and now, more than ever it literary is about who you know "I mean who you network".
Thanks for posting.
Happy Blogging!
I recently discovered your site and plan to return often. I also just found a contest for middle-grade and YA writers that you might want to let your readers know about. Here's the info:
kidlit.com/kidlit-contest
Oh. It's not Friday yet is it? :)
Well, have a great Thursday, then.
Great post, Jessica, thank you.
I appreciate the information from an agent's perspective about income and survival. I also love how you consistently support the artist in the writer.
Have a great weekend.
Great info, Jessica. Interesting insight for sure. Can you explain briefly subsidiary rights sales and what all that involves?
This was an informative and encouraging post. Thank you!
Obama's awesome speech last night should give us all hope that the economy is definitely looking up!
I actually have noticed a few agents leaving the field, but as you said, they seem to be newer (3-5 years of experience).
It definitely makes sense that having an author with long-term, stable sales would be more profitable in the long run than signing a bunch of clients who might just be flashes in the pan. Sure, if you can get a nice advance for them, you would get a couple thousand dollars (more if it's a really nice advance), but if the book flops, that one-time lump may be all you get if you can't sell any more of their books. But if you get someone who sells well consistently over time...well, even if your portion of those royalties is less than the one-time advance, it adds up after a few years, and if the author can have steady sales for multiple books, then it's a really sweet deal.
Yes, Kristen, but how do you know if a debut author's novels will or won't sell until you give them a chance? They may turn out to be your best client yet. It's the old Catch-22...
THE HELP is #1 on NYT--written by a debut author. All bestselling authors had to start somewhere!
Miss "Snark" is the scam that put the industry out of business and into the toilet, and all the literary agents and blog writers who promoted that fraud should be run out of town on a rail along with their crappy books too! I hope each one of them ends up selling apples on the street.
In researching you for a potential query, I had noticed you do a lot of non-fiction. It does seem that with the popularity of reality shows, readers might be more interested in personal stories than fictional worlds.
Thanks for the info. It's a good insight to have when deciding which agents to query. I've been reaching out to newer agents with shorted sales lists, but that might not be the best policy for a new author either.
Who can tell about anything anymore.
..........dhole
Reading this, I wonder how agents have time to do anything, much less make money doing anything. Reading queries alone seems to be a full-time job, and then there are partials and proposals to publishers and of course taking care of your previous clients! How do you balance it all? What does that typical day of an agent look like?
Additionally (and what most writers don't know) is that most new agents (agents who have been agenting for less than three years) have another job. There would be no other way to make ends meet otherwise. A lot of us do freelance publicity, marketing and copywriting. That's been true for new agents since long before the recession started.
That's very true for writers too, as we all know--many of whom worked unrelated jobs before hitting the big-time. Sadly, most writers never become bestselling authors so must work 24/7 to pay the bills and take care of biz.
Agents are no different than anyone else who must work for a living and have a life too--but they often can work from home at their own pace while most employees/self-employed workers don't have that luxury.
"I've been reaching out to newer agents with shorted sales lists, but that might not be the best policy for a new author either."
Nope. Best policy is Q all of them who 1) handle your genre and 2) are currently accepting subs
Don't do them all at once though, say 10 at a time. After you Q 75 or so with no deal, it's time to move on to a new project or perhaps Q small houses directly...then if that doesn't work, if you still want to give life to the project, it's time for e-book pubs or POD.
Always be working on a new book while you shop the old one.
Buena suerte!
The publishing market is crumbling, and agents will be the first to feel the effects. Of course, they are sales people so they will always project an image of success in public.
As for authors, sorry, to burst y'all's bubble, but the Stephen King dream is dead. It died with the rest of the American dream. You know what I mean: the idea that with minimal talent and pulp junk you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars and get a movie deal.
All you're going to get today is ripped off. It's best to hold on to your manuscript and see how the independent presses take over and then go that route. Giving your e-book rights to a major publisher today, is just throwing away the only gold you might have.
Gordon Jerome
A Literary Experience